You would think that selling things I find in thrift stores on eBay would be pretty cut and dried. I buy them, photograph them, research what they are worth and post them. I get my AI friends to write the posts and I always make sure the description is honest. I use AI to set the asking price, too, based on what other similar things are selling for and I always am open to reasonable offers.
So a couple of weeks ago I found some antique frames in a thrift shop and ended up listing them for what Copilot suggested they were worth. It suggested one small frame was worth $80 (which I thought was a bit much) but I figured what the heck. Several people watched it. And I sent out offers. Last week I got a message from one of the people who received an offer thanking me but saying it was out of their price range although they really liked the frame. I responded that she should make me a counteroffer. She responded that she was on disability and could only afford something in the twenty something dollar range. I figured that this person appreciated the frame and should have it so I said to make a counteroffer of $28 and I'd sell it to her because I like things to go to people who appreciated them. But I said I would understand if that was still too expensive. Though $28 is quite a hefty discount from $80. She responded that I was so generous and she really appreciated it and hoped I made lots of sales because I was so nice. And she sent me the counteroffer and bought the frame for $28 plus shipping.
I felt like a nice person who had done something good for a person who really wanted something but didn't have lots of money. So the package with frame must have arrived today because I got this message from her. When it popped up, I was assuming she was going to tell me how much she liked it and really appreciated me selling it to her for much lower than I'd listed it. Here's what she wrote:
I was more than a little taken aback, but I took the high road and said I would be happy to refund her money since she wasn't happy. I hadn't intended on misleading anyone. So I had eBay issue her a full refund and didn't ask her to return the stupid thing. When the refund was confirmed I messaged her that she should have received it. I also said that the item was described really well and there were lots of photos and that she should have asked questions ahead of time. And I also pointed out that she had asked me to sell it to her and quite a discount and I'd sold it to her at almost a quarter of what I was asking. But I told her I hoped she could enjoy it as it was and wished her well.
Now a normal person would have perhaps thanked me or at the very least acknowledged the refund and appreciated me not asking them to return the item. Not this person, though. She had manipulated me into selling it to her at a discount with a sob story and then got pissed when it wasn't exactly what she had imagined.
I'm trying to accept it as a lesson. No good deed goes unpunished. It struck me a bit hard because I truly thought I was doing something nice. But it also came on the heels of the jerk who threatened me about the Decca guitar I was trying to sell on eBay. I've just got to stop responding to messages on eBay. I'm an honest person, but the thing I hate about eBay is the pressure to have positive feedback. I think people use it to manipulate you.
All of this over a lousy $28 and after eBay takes their cut I probably only made $20 anyway. Now I'm out that amount and the cost of postage to send it to her. And she gets to keep the frame because I'm not going to pay even more to have it returned.
Good thing this is just a hobby.
2 comments:
I sold off my collections on eBay over the last few years and quickly figured out not to feel pressured about positive ratings. Whenever I checked out other people’s feedback It seemed like if people actually made a negative comment they were either straightforward (like “late shipping”) or totally off their rocker (like “seller wouldn’t refund my money when my dog threw up on the package”). I never had negative feedback and only had one neutral (“package arrived in absolutely perfect condition, but I think it should have been packed better”). I only had one or two obnoxious email complaints, but just gave straightforward responses and they went away. One guy was clearly drunk when he wrote the email. After I pointed out he was complaining about something that didn’t happen, he went away. Anyway, maybe you interact with these yahoos too much. Personally, I think most of these folks are too scared of what you might do to their feedback record to actually give you a bad rating.
First I am truly happy and flattered that you still read my blog after all of these years. As for ebay ratings, you are right. I shouldn't care. It is this irrational desire to be liked and the probably mistaken assumption that people will buy from me if I have 100 percent positive feedback. Now in the scheme of things does it make any difference if people are impressed by the way I pack crap that was jostled around on a Goodwill shelf randomly? Ebay has its share of trolls and nutjobs. I had one person from Puerto Rico repeatedly ask me about this brass Hindu figure and whether I would sell it to them. After the 5th or 6th message from them and no offers, I simply blocked them. Ebay offers that option they just don't make it obvious you can do it. They don't make anything that doesn't increase their profit margin obvious. Oh well. Hope you and the family are doing well.
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